Basswood is this a good tone wood or is Ibanez using it because they get it cheap? I know they claim its light weight but my RG570 weighs alot more than my Les Paul and it has these little volume and tone pots that I'm hoping is the reason why the tone sucks. All opinions welcomed lay it on me I can take it. Thanks

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Originally posted by Buddy:
...and it has these little volume and tone pots that I'm hoping is the reason why the tone sucks.

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Can you explain it a bit further?

My Pacifica 1421 is made of basswood. It sounds a bit dark for my taste, but does sound good for more metal oriented stuff, and it’s a pleasure to play it.

I once read that a luthier is like a chef, and the ingredients he uses are important (wood), but it’s also important how he uses them (combination with other woods, pickups, etc.).

From the Melancon forum page: “Basswood- Stong midrange, balanced tone and light weight. Light blonde in color with no grain. This is a nice backing wood for maple tops when combined with humbuckers. Usually look best with opaque color on the back and transparent color on the maple tops.“

Here are some useful links:
http://www.midtown.net/~drguitar/tone.htm
http://www.musicgearreview.com/reviews/IbanezRG570/ibanezrg570.htm

I hope this helps.

Basswood is a great wood!
My first Anderson Guitar was basswood and I asked myself the same question. I never thought it was dark sounding though. I liked it, very nice midrange, I used to get a great van halen sound out of that guitar. Also consider that Suhr, Anderson, Tyler ect.. are all using basswood in one incarnation or another. So no I would not call this a cheap wood. Try some different pickups, that is a cheap upgrade. Or buy an Anderson drop top, that is the expensive alternative. Good luck, MH

Did your Anderson have a maple top or maple fingerboard?

I own an Ibanez RG and it is basswoood, it was missing something till I changed teh pickups in it... (now Paf Pro, Fast Track1, Paf pro)

This wood with those pickup sounds great and warm to me... a bit dark in a way I like keeps the bottom end just like I like it... if you like a tone with more highs in it a harder wood usually provides that.

about it being cheap I dunno, but since Ibanez builts lots of guitar with that wood I 'd guess that to them it's not cheap... but so many guitars are built with basswood and they're not all cheap/entry level ones...

If your Ibanez as the original pickups in it... I highly recommend a change... will do you good if you shop carefully... whatver brand you choose take the time to call or email their service to check if the pickup you choose will do what you expect them to in your guitar they should be able to help you and guide you. I've had good service from Steve Buchler and his team at DiMarzio and I'd expect the same to be true about any other manufacturer... just check into it, might be a thing for you.

No Eddie; It was a basswood body and a maple Pau Ferro neck. It was a crazy Black and White Bowling Ball finish (7-19-88) and I regret selling it to this day. I'm still trying to find it, any suggestions? MH

Thanks for the reply MrHanky. The maple neck probably adds a little brightness. Or perhaps it’s the combination of the pickups that make mine sound a bit “dark” since I also have Dimarzios PAF Pros on the bridge and neck positions (I don’t recall the pickup model in the middle position, but it is a single coil, and doesn’t sound as dark).
If I recall correctly, Rich Lasner left Ibanez and went on to design a line of Pacifica guitars for Yamaha, including the 1421. I lent this guitar to a friend for a week, since he was interested in buying it. He plays a lot of Steve Vai and Joe Satriani stuff. When he gave it back to me, he told me to never sell this guitar. He couldn’t afford it at the moment, and luckily I didn’t sell it to anyone else.

my les paul is basswood and gets a good dark tone. but thats really what i am looking for. i don't find it very light weight though. it is one heavy bitch and isn't to kind on the shoulders.

Thanks guys you all were very helpful and I appreciate it and Merry Christmas. Hey maybe I'll buy myself some good pickups for Christmas.

Basswood is an inexpensive wood compared to more exotic types of wood such as flamed maple, koa, etc. By itself, basswood has a darker tone and not much clarity compared to say a basswood guitar with a maple top(used to enhance the highs). Basswood is good if you plan on combining it with another wood for top-end definition. A maple neck would brighten up the sound of basswood, but basically, basswood is a "softer" hardwood and does not "throw" out the sound as much as a denser variety of hardwood. It cuts easily (and dings!)and is good for not tearing up saw blades, as opposed to arymeth(purple heart). Manufacturers take these things into consideration when choosing which woods to use, in addition to the availability and cost involved. For a compromise try alder. Alder is not as "pretty" looking as say a nice piece of maple, or ash, or some more exotic woods, but it gives off a warm, clear musical tone which may be easily moved to a darker or lighter side by using different neck woods or laminating a brighter wood to it. Keep in mind that guitar companies don't have many clear finished guitars made of basswood as there isn't much grain activity on basswood compared to maple, or ash, or mahagony, or rosewood, etc. Don't fool yourselves gentlemen, the cost of a guitar with basswood may not be cheap, but the really high-end stuff does not readily use basswood as a main wood. Besides, since when does the cost of a guitar mean that the wood used makes it more or less expensive. Corporate types in accounting usually set the prices for the company. Basswood only became "fashionable" to use after companies such as Schecter Guitar Research in the 1970's began using various different types of hardwoods to escape the same ol' woods used up to that point by the big 2 electric guitar companies...Gibson, and Fender. Before that, I never heard of basswood, and I'm an old fart.

I understand that in the southern US,they use basswood to assemble drawers for cabinets,because of it being plentiful & easy to work with. They use it for the inside portion of the drawer because it isn't much to look at. The cabinetmaker who told me that sort of laughed when I told him that basswood is somewhat "prized" for building guitars.